The Bill
The Act was introduced by Labour MP Fran Wilde in 1985. Originally, the bill had two parts - one decriminalised male homosexuality, while the other provided anti-discrimination law protections for lesbians and gay men. The first part passed narrowly (49 Ayes to 44 Noes) on 9 July 1986, after a vote was delayed a week earlier on 2 July by George Gair; the bill might have failed if a vote was taken then as several supporters were kept away from Wellington by bad weather. Gair supported the bill, although he thought some sections went "too far". The second part failed, but was incorporated into a supplementary order paper added to the New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993.
Read more about this topic: Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986
Famous quotes containing the word bill:
“It’s true I’ve got no shirts to wear;
It’s true my butcher’s bill is due;
It’s true my prospects all look blue—
But don’t let that unsettle you:”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)
“Chippenhook was the home of Judge Theophilus Harrington, known for his trenchant reply to an irate slave-owner in a runaway slave case. Judge Harrington declared that the owner’s claim to the slave was defective. The owner indignantly demanded to know what was lacking in his legally sound claim. The Judge exploded, ‘A bill of sale, sir, from God Almighty!’”
—For the State of Vermont, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)